A visibly excited crowd packed into the Alice and George Brown Theater for the 2018 Opening Night Concert and Dinner Gala. HGO’s 64th season opener — “The Flying Dutchman,” Richard Wagner’s chilling tale of a cursed ghost ship doomed to sail the ocean for eternity — was followed by a late-night supper across Texas Avenue at the Ballroom at Bayou Place. Fish Plaza, which typically hosts Opening Night dinners, remains an active construction staging area until next spring.

The evening’s rain created a unique obstacle to transporting guests from Wortham to Ballroom at Bayou Place. It’s not everyday that gown-clad supporters Lynn Wyatt and Valerie Dieterich dash across a downtown parking lot under golf umbrellas. But the unexpected accessory proved right on-theme with “The Flying Dutchman’s” own inclement weather scenes.